May 13, 2026 • 53 mins
As one of the founding members of The Fray, Joe King taught us "How to Save a Life" without things going "Over My Head,” but today, Danielle is ready to hear about how it all began.
The rocker from the Rockies shares his story of how the minute he heard Nirvana, everything changed, and how much hard work went into becoming an “overnight success.”
Plus, Joe shares his origins as a young entrepreneur with a paper route and a black market chewing tobacco business, right here on Teen Beat!
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
Let's see that's okay, because no one here is.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Hello.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
It is time for another podcast episode, so let's teen
the beat around. Nope, I'm embarrassed. I even tried that one. Okay,
back to the drawing board. It's Danielle Fischel and this
is Team Beat, a podcast where I interview interesting people
about their teenage years, a time where they were possibly
a little less interesting. I'm looking to connect with these
(00:49):
celebrities and get the awkward truth, the embarrassing underbelly of
life before the fame, when pimples and getting your driver's
license were your biggest concerns, and yes, face all these
challenges while beamed to millions of households as the female
lead on a beloved family sitcom That was my life.
So I see it like this. I gave you my childhood.
(01:12):
It's time we hear yours. And my guest this week
turned his Denver, Colorado church upbringing playing in bands with
classmates into a multi platinum Grammy nominated career with songs
that can bring you right back to an exact moment
in your life with just a few opening notes. His
band's debut album, two thousand and five's How to Save
(01:33):
a Life went quadruple platinum and was part of a
movement that bridged the gap for spiritually Christian rock music
to enter the mainstream, a feat once considered totally impossible.
Their biggest hit, the title track off the album How
to Save A Life, became an all out aughts banger
when it was first featured on both an episode of
Grey's Anatomy then as the music for its upcoming season
(01:57):
premiere promo. A massive musical achievement back when TV meant something,
the song peaked at number three on the charts and
tied Carlos Santana's Smooth as the seventh longest charting single
at the time. With fifty eight consecutive weeks. They've survived
rotating members, hiatus, exhaustion, numerous stages of the music industry,
(02:18):
and I bet some sort of natural disaster so to
have celebrated the twentieth anniversary of that first record with
an international tour in twenty twenty five, and now a
brand new album, A Light that waits available to stream everywhere.
But even with all that musical success, I feel like
behind the instrument and emotional lyrics, there could just be
(02:40):
an awkward teen ready to chat. And so this week
I'm excited to welcome to the newest episode of teen Beat.
Vocalist and guitarist of The Fray Joe King.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Hello, Hello, thank you for having me.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
Thank you so much for being here. Listen.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
When iHeart said to me that there was even the
possibility that I could interview you, I was like, drop everything.
Speaker 4 (03:03):
Clear my schedule, please make it happen.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
If they say he's very awkward, so this will work, well.
Speaker 4 (03:08):
They did not. Okay, and so I've had a couple
of minutes to chat with you. You don't strike me as awkward.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Oh, I lean into it.
Speaker 4 (03:15):
You Yeah, embrace the awkward absolutely.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
I think.
Speaker 5 (03:17):
Actually it was beautifully written, by the way that introduction,
Thank you, that was wonderful.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
You you are deserving of isn't it cool to hear
your accomplishments like read background.
Speaker 5 (03:28):
I just learned things too, like like oh, we did
survive natural disasters.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Am I exhausted?
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Still?
Speaker 2 (03:35):
You know?
Speaker 3 (03:35):
I threw in the exhaustion because I feel like, at
least at my age, it's just everyone's a little exhausted.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Right, Yeah, it's yeah.
Speaker 5 (03:43):
So I promised to be awkward today, okay, And well
let's just take you know, take it where it goes.
Speaker 4 (03:48):
I love it.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
Let's first start with Denver. Okay, you were born and
raised in Colorado. As a California native, we were told
that everyone who lives there was either a major hippie
to Ken Bay Matombo. So where did you fall on
that scale?
Speaker 5 (04:05):
Well, Denver, I mean it's changed so much right since
since I was a little one, and you know, it
was it was just more of a sports town for.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
A while growing up.
Speaker 5 (04:14):
I mean it was like if you weren't a Broncos fan,
you were gonna have to run from people, so you
needed to wrap the Broncos, which I still do proudly good.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
But then it became very like.
Speaker 5 (04:28):
Artist friendly town and like more of a music forward
town because I think because first off, the people love
to go see music, like like Denver rights like love
going to see live music. Coupled with the fact that
like some of the best venues in the world are there.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
I mean, I don't know if you've been to Red Rocks.
Speaker 4 (04:46):
I have not been there.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
You have to go see a show at Red Rocks.
Speaker 5 (04:50):
Everybody listen to this, go see you should go, like
look up your favorite artists and go see a show
at Red Rocks.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
It's it's legendary. Yeah, it's been around.
Speaker 5 (04:57):
It was it was a natural amphitheater. It was basically
like used for like a church services before amplification. So
they would sing I've heard.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
The Grateful I've heard Grateful Dead recordings there.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Oh yeah, the.
Speaker 5 (05:11):
Beatles have played there, Johnny Cash. I mean the history
is on the walls backstage. So anyway, the venues in
Denver provide, like you know, just for live music and
people love going and so being an artist from there,
I mean it was always our dream to play Red Rocks,
you know, but yeah, we started there, and you know,
like I said, Denver became more of a music town
(05:31):
and then you've seen like over the years, you've seen
artists come out of Denver every couple of years. It
was like, well, Big Head Todd was early the samples,
and then then we came on on the scene there
and then from that point it was like there's a
bank a group called three zero three Flobots if you remember, Yeah,
(05:52):
they were Denver, and then Nathania Rylift and and then
you know, Lumineerous guys live there. So it's like it's
a it's just a beautiful scene. It's a beautiful place
to be as an artist because home there's hometown pride.
Speaker 4 (06:04):
That's really great.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
Your dad was a pastor, Well, so did you grow
up in church music? Like was were either of your
parents musical?
Speaker 5 (06:13):
They they weren't musical. There was always church music around,
and yes, that was that was what I what was
I was exposed to early, you know, as a kid.
And and honestly, some of those those old hymns and
old uh you know, praise songs are gorgeous, like heart
wrenchingly gorgeous, yes, and and melodically and even lyrically are
(06:36):
very universal. And you know, so that I think there's
there's also like I've met so many artists along the
way that that have come up in the church.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
You know.
Speaker 5 (06:47):
I grew up in the church and learned how to
you know, learned how to play church songs. And yeah,
and there's something there with it. I don't know what
it is in the water of these songs. It maybe
like there's a pop sensibility or something in in church
songs because if you think about it, like they need
to be songs that people can sing right away, yeah, right,
(07:07):
and they need to be lyrics that people can you know,
connect to and emotionally like attached to. So I don't know,
there was there was elements there that maybe was like
preparing me for songwriting in general. But yeah, that was
that was some of my backgrounds in the church.
Speaker 4 (07:22):
What was it like having a pastor for a father
as a kid.
Speaker 5 (07:27):
That's been a that's been a journey to Yeah, yeah,
well yeah, I mean there's you know, it's I couldn't
you know, couldn't be myself. I loved I loved my childhood,
Don't get me wrong, I do like you know, so
I was so proud. I'm so proud of my dad
and my mom for how they navigated life. I mean
(07:50):
I was the youngest of five kids. You know, pastors
don't make a lot of money.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
No, they're definitely not doing it because they want to
make a bunch of banks.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
You're not.
Speaker 5 (07:58):
You're there because you're heart, you know, and you feel
a greater purpose.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
So I knew that there was a greater purpose there,
you know.
Speaker 5 (08:06):
But it was it was a struggle for the family
to to to pay the bills.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
My mom was really the bread winner. She was a nurse,
so you know, it ended.
Speaker 5 (08:18):
Up teaching me a lot first off, because you know,
we had to contribute early, like to helping pay for
soccer gear or sports stuff. So I remember having a
newspaper route in the second grade and my brother and
I would go out before school. We had it for
my entire elementary you know, from second to sixth grade,
(08:39):
delivering papers in the morning.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
You know, and you know, you make a little money
and that.
Speaker 5 (08:45):
Would help pay for cleats and bags, so you know, yeah,
it was the financial aspect was it was a struggle.
And I saw that as I as I got older
in my dad and it taking a toll on him
that he was giving his life to help people.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
But yeah, his family was struggling. Yeah.
Speaker 5 (09:10):
So and outside of that, you know, being raised in
the church, Yeah, like I said, I didn't feel comfortable
in my own skin, Yeah, because I felt like I
had to be you know, maybe like a version that
like would make my parents proud or make God proud, right,
and held.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
To a higher standard maybe also by everyone in the community,
because you're a reflection of him.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Right.
Speaker 5 (09:32):
So then I went to the dark side, and there
were years I did. I became good at it, and
you know, through junior high years early high school was
in a lot of trouble really yeah, and it just
was something in me.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Yeah, I needed I don't know if it was.
Speaker 5 (10:00):
The adrenaline, but doing things that I knew I wasn't
supposed to do gave me this like this like this energy.
Speaker 4 (10:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (10:09):
And I was surrounded by friends that were wanting to
do the same thing.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
Right.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
But what I got good at was not getting caught.
Speaker 4 (10:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
See that's where you and I are so different. I
I got caught all the time. Okay, Yeah, anytime I
tried anything, I was immediately caught.
Speaker 4 (10:25):
I was. I was terrible at getting away with anything.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
So did just see it on your face?
Speaker 4 (10:30):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (10:30):
Both see it on my face. And also my mom
was just like very in tune. You said you were
the youngest of five, so one the babies of the
family are always reckless.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
I think you're right for sure.
Speaker 4 (10:43):
They're just like, what do I have to lose?
Speaker 3 (10:45):
There's I've got too many parents because all your siblings
feel like adults to you too, And so yeah, I
think the first real bad thing I ever did was
smoke a cigarette. And I think my mom I didn't
even bother to try to not smell like it. My
mom just knew right away, Like I can smell you.
You smell like smoke. Like I was just bad at
(11:05):
getting away with things. So I'm envious that you knew
how to hide.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
I don't know if it's the youngest thing.
Speaker 5 (11:10):
Yeah, And I certainly had to work on that in
my adult life, like, oh, it's actually not good to hide.
Speaker 4 (11:15):
Yeah, Jack, Yeah, you don't want to be great at that.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
Don't want to be good at that.
Speaker 4 (11:18):
Only when you're a kid does it pay off, right,
and some only sometimes?
Speaker 5 (11:21):
And it did literally because yeah, I speaking of cigarettes,
I like there was there was there were grocery stores
that I would go to and in the aisles they
still had like chewing tobacco.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Yeah, not behind the counter.
Speaker 4 (11:34):
Wow, okay.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
Yeah, And so I wore.
Speaker 5 (11:36):
Baked jackets and would slip those big packages in my
jacket and walk out and then sell them.
Speaker 4 (11:47):
Yeah, and you were an entrepreneur.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
I mean I was trying to contribute to the family exactly.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
Did it also make you working from the time you
were in second grade and saying it was going to
things like cleat? Did it make you more discerning about
what you wanted to try, like what you what was
like you wanted to play soccer or baseball because you're
like I have, this is my money, I'm working hard
for that.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
There is something to it because I didn't take it
for granted.
Speaker 5 (12:14):
I knew that, like, Okay, these cleats, these Copa Adidas
copas that I just bought with like kangaroo leather, like iron,
those and I want to take care of those and
I'm going to polish them and I'm going to keep
them clean.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
And I was proud of those cleans, So it should
be there's something.
Speaker 5 (12:35):
There's something in that, you know that it taught me
to appreciation of things and also maybe since generation too.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
You know, I remember going with my mom to the
grocery store.
Speaker 5 (12:45):
She would save coupons, we'd have, she'd have like every week,
she'd have a stack of coupons that she'd cut out
from mailers, from magazine, you know, all the stuff. So
I'd go with her and it was my task to
go with her to the grocery store and find these items.
Speaker 4 (13:02):
And we're in the coupon. That's what we're buying this
week because we've got a coupon for it.
Speaker 5 (13:05):
Yeah, and then you know, my reward was this chocolate
pie at the end of it, which were like those
those like crusted like almost cow zone.
Speaker 4 (13:15):
Yeah, yeah, I know what you're talking about, you know.
Speaker 5 (13:18):
At the time, and like, I was so excited to
get that chocolate.
Speaker 4 (13:24):
That's so cute. I love that.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
My one of my chores growing up was I had
to cook dinner with my mom every night, so I
had to stay at My mom was a stay at
home mom, and so she, you know, cleaned the house
every day, She made dinner every night, and I would
come home from school, have to clean up the dog
poop in the backyard, everyone's favorite shore, and then come
in get cleaned up, and then time to help my
(13:46):
mom make dinner.
Speaker 4 (13:47):
And at the time, I remember thinking, oh why do
I have to hell make dinner?
Speaker 3 (13:53):
And in hindsight, it's some of my favorite memories with
my mom because all we would do just talk the
whole time the vegetables, boil the water, and then just
share about our days. And it's probably exactly how she
knew the minute I did anything wrong then as a teenager,
because she had been locked in with me every night
while we cooked, she just knew me too. Well, right,
(14:26):
was your dad a fan of your music?
Speaker 4 (14:28):
Is your dad a fan of your music.
Speaker 5 (14:30):
You know. That was an interesting process journey there too,
you know, because I through high school, I started to
like lead the praise band you know, at at my
school and at church.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
My dad stopped pastoring.
Speaker 5 (14:45):
When I was in eighth grade, okay, and just transitioned
into a different point in life. He honestly, he got
burned out from what I when I talked about he
just could not, you know, couldn't deal with not providing
anymore for the fam.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
So he stepped away, pivoted.
Speaker 5 (15:05):
But you know, the church was always you know important
still anyway, Like, yeah, I started playing church songs, and
then I wanted to start a band, you know, and
so in ninth grade I started my first.
Speaker 4 (15:16):
BANDO nin grade.
Speaker 5 (15:19):
We were we were called well, it was after I
heard there was a band called Nirvana.
Speaker 4 (15:25):
Yeah, of course you may have heard of them.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Yeah, you may have heard.
Speaker 5 (15:29):
Because I had older siblings, I was exposed to you know,
music at a younger age, and.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
I loved like what they were listening to.
Speaker 5 (15:36):
And I remember my brother having his friends over and
they put on Nevermind Smells like teen Spearit. It was
in the winter time, and I heard this song and
I my I started to like shake and like my
heart rate was racing and and I couldn't help myself.
(15:58):
And after that song, and I remember running upstairs in
my underwear and immediately running out into the backyard which
was which was covered with about six inches of snow,
and just dove in the snow. What am I doing?
But I'm feeling something. And I didn't put it together
(16:19):
at that point, but I at that it just lit
something in me. They're like, I want to I want
to be in a band. I want to start a band.
And so it was within a year or so ninth grade,
so I started my first band, started writing songs, started
playing songs anywhere you know I could, we could as
a band. It was like, you know, our friend's party,
(16:41):
at their mom's house or whatever.
Speaker 4 (16:44):
And how did you know how to start writing songs?
Like what was that process for you? Because like, I
don't know the first thing about writing a song.
Speaker 5 (16:51):
Honestly, I didn't. I didn't know I was a songwriter
until my aunt gave me a guitar. And that was
in the eighth grade, shortly after Nirvana. For a song
I learned was come as you Are Wow. But once
she gave me the guitar. I couldn't stop, I couldn't
(17:12):
put it down, and it just I just started writing writing,
you know, learned learned Nirvana, and then I just started
writing songs. So it just wasn't like a thought out thing.
But also it's interesting because I didn't know that I
was that was supposed I was supposed to do that.
It just it's interesting when I when I look back,
even talking about it now, that like it took someone
(17:35):
giving me an instrument, you know, or or like providing
something you know, uh in life that you weren't expecting.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
Yeah, and and it changes the course of your life.
Speaker 4 (17:46):
Was it a new guitar? Was it one of her guitars?
Speaker 5 (17:48):
It was just it was it was it was called
a Franciscan just an acoustic guitar, like not expensive, like
just kind of a cheap one.
Speaker 4 (17:56):
Have you ever asked her what made her think?
Speaker 5 (17:59):
Like I have thanked her a thousand times and she
is such a wonderful light to this day and in
my life. And she feels like this sense of like
you know, pride to and shared story that like she
influenced you know, me becoming a musician by giving me
an instrument. And and that's also something that like, you know,
(18:22):
I've I've wanted to help when I can. Like I
went back to my my middle school for instance, you know,
a few years back, and tried to like you know,
talk talk to the kids about music, talked about like
you know, instruments, and just like getting an instrument in kids' hands,
like give them the opportunity to like pick up something, yes,
(18:43):
and play, just to see, because like you don't know
in life until you try, you know, and like if
you don't try, you'll definitely never know.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
So yeah, it was, it was, it was.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
It was a lucky gift that I feel such a
sense of responsibility.
Speaker 4 (18:59):
I have two boys.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
I have a seven year old and an almost five
year old, and I realized like from my mom, my
mom growing up loved makeup and had she not been
the child of two immigrant parents who thought that corporate
America was where you needed to be. If you were
going to be anything in this life, you needed to
be in corporate America, the idea if she had said
she wanted to be a makeup artist would have been
(19:23):
so immediately shut down. But she literally didn't even know
that was an option. And like the sense of responsibility
when you realize that kids only know what their options
are if you kind of reveal it to them, like,
you know, providing opportunity to say, hey, you want to
play this, you want to see if this is interesting
(19:43):
to you? Like, thank god your aunt thought that for you,
and it Look what came pouring out of you after.
Speaker 4 (19:51):
It's amazing.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
It's so true. So and it does.
Speaker 5 (19:54):
It takes other people. I think you can't see yourself clearly, right,
You're right, like we're kind of mind it to who
we who who we are in some ways, and then
others can see it before you can, and like and
they either recognize it or they tell you or they
give you and it changes your life because then you
(20:16):
see yourself clearly.
Speaker 2 (20:18):
Oh I am a musician. Oh I just needed this guitar?
Speaker 4 (20:22):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (20:22):
Yes, Were you ever sneaking CDs around? Was there any
music your parents did not want you to listen to.
Speaker 4 (20:29):
That you had to listen to?
Speaker 2 (20:31):
So? Yes, I was around church music. That doesn't mean
I was listening to church music. They had no idea.
What I was listening to.
Speaker 5 (20:40):
Junior high years was all West Coast rap, the best. Yeah,
that's what my friends was listening to that was like
n w A. That was dre that era, and it
was on my Walkman all the time.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
And loved it. So they had no idea that Bitches
Ain't Shit was my go to song before matth Orry.
Speaker 4 (21:07):
They don't listen to this podcast, so you're good.
Speaker 3 (21:13):
My favorite album was Doggy Style Snoop Dogg's Doggy Style
and we I had a family reunion in San Luis
Obispo and it was the first year I started driving,
So it was like nineteen ninety seven and I was
in my Toyota Forerunner and I had my windows down.
I was driving alone, just blasting that music. And I
(21:33):
look back on in hindsight and I think, yeah, I
can understand why my parents were like, oh, do you.
Speaker 4 (21:39):
This is what you want to listen to?
Speaker 3 (21:40):
But boy, it was the best of the best, just
so much fun. Uh you know, the Fray and Boy
Meets World do share a source of inspiration?
Speaker 2 (21:49):
What do we go?
Speaker 4 (21:50):
Counting crows?
Speaker 1 (21:51):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (21:52):
God? I mean how great? And like still great?
Speaker 4 (21:56):
So great.
Speaker 5 (21:57):
I am a fan of any band that's doing it,
to be honest, and longevity in a band is so
difficult to stay, to keep creating, to keep getting through
like all the that you said, the natural disasters, yes,
the personal disasters, they collective disasters, you know, egos, So
it's just you know, it's multiple marriages in one and
(22:21):
navigating that is.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
That's why all.
Speaker 5 (22:25):
Bands break up, change or evolve, you know, and we
did all three of those things exactly.
Speaker 3 (22:31):
Yeah, I mean, adapting is one of the hardest things
that an entity can do, especially while maintaining integrity, because
how do you maintain integrity in an ever changing world
and find trying to find where like you said, we
don't necessarily see ourselves. So even then as a band
or an artist, to see how your artistry has its
(22:53):
own place in an ever changing landscape, it's a lot.
Speaker 4 (22:57):
So you're right.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
Anytime a band can do it and do it successfully
for decades, they deserve creddit.
Speaker 4 (23:04):
Growing up in the church, What were your thoughts on
Christian rock?
Speaker 5 (23:09):
So that's that's that's probably the one of the bigger
misconceptions of our of our band is that we were
not a Christian band.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
That that was never the intention. In fact, we were
very intentional.
Speaker 5 (23:24):
About non Christian Christian band because because it was you know,
it was first off, when I when I was writing
these songs. I would early on, I would try them
at church and they did not work. I was like,
why don't they get why don't they question anything?
Speaker 2 (23:46):
Yeah? Like, am I the only one that's questioning this?
Like what's going on?
Speaker 5 (23:51):
And I just realized that at that time, questioning wasn't
really allowed, and I needed my art.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
To be free and my songs to be for.
Speaker 5 (24:06):
Everyone and not to have an answer, right, And so
I realized, I want to I want to write these songs.
We want to we want to start this band, and
we want this music to be real and not the
church music isn't real. I'm not saying that Christian rock
isn't real. That's that's that's true, and it and it
serves a purpose, you know, for me and for us.
(24:29):
We just had more questions, yes, than we had answers.
So those early records were all about questions. And in
a way, I mean, if you look at music in general,
or you know, rock, pop, rock, whatever, there's there's a
sense of rebellion and and and for us, our rebellion
was we're not in the church doing this. If they
if the church wants to come, they can come to
(24:51):
the bar and see us play, you know, because we
want everybody to be able to see this.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
Yeah, and that was hard for for my parents at first.
Speaker 5 (25:00):
Yeah, you know, because I think that they they thought
maybe I'd be the one like leading church service for
you know, forty years playing playing songs every Sunday, right,
and when they when they heard some of those early
songs about you know, questions.
Speaker 4 (25:14):
It's a little uncomfortable, very yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
Is it kind of it kind of shakes shakes.
Speaker 4 (25:19):
Up some things, Yeah, shakes your foundation. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
Yeah, so yeah, it was.
Speaker 5 (25:23):
You know, so that that is a misconception a bit
of the of the band, and that's okay. I mean
there's been other bands the same same type of thing.
I mean Katy Perry was you know, started that way
and she evolved and you know One Republic. They are
good friends of mine, Ryan, you know, we've talked about
it a bunch, and you know, so even Kings of Leon,
(25:44):
guys like those guys came from you know, a preacher
put your background and you know you realize like, okay,
like what do you who are you?
Speaker 2 (25:51):
What do you want to say? Yeap, So yeah, that
was that was a bit of the story for us.
Speaker 4 (25:57):
I think hearing you talk about that was making me
think like the same way.
Speaker 3 (26:02):
So there's like the rock title, and then under the
rock title you get Christian rock over here, and then
you get like what you guys were doing. It's a
little like boy Meets It's like a sitcom. You guys
were like, we don't want to be a sitcom. You know,
like Christian rock, it has a moral and it's wrapped
up really nicely in twenty two minutes.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
Well, there was a thing called jpms. Have you ever
heard of that?
Speaker 5 (26:20):
In the Christian scene at that time, if you were
considered to be a Christian artist, you had to have
a certain amount of Jesus per minute references.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
Jesus we had zero.
Speaker 4 (26:32):
Right, zero jpm's mom it was negative.
Speaker 5 (26:35):
It was like it got down there, negative fifty jpms. Yeah,
but I remember the first actually it was interestly, the
first label that came to check us out was a
Christian label, okay, and we were playing a show in
Denver and they after the show, you know, we went
(26:58):
out and hung for a bit, and then it was
like a couple of days later they circled back and
we were just curious.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
And the labels was called Sparrow.
Speaker 5 (27:08):
And they circle back and they were like, you know,
we're just it's just not you know, not our thing,
and so you know, we're going to pass and we're
That was interesting because if they would have offered something,
it would have.
Speaker 3 (27:19):
Been hard to not look at it right right, because
it would have really been faced with, like dow, we
throw in a couple of jpms, do we.
Speaker 5 (27:28):
Get just just you know it's lowercase J little just
every now and you know it's just a slight left
jay just to get that, you know, just to quit
our jobs. So but they passed, and.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
That was interesting because we didn't have to make the
decision at all. Yeah, we're gonna we're gonna do.
Speaker 4 (27:57):
Better better without you.
Speaker 3 (27:59):
It's so in high school, that's where you meet Isaac Slade, right, yeah, okay,
and he is a co founder of the band.
Speaker 4 (28:06):
Yes okay, and so what was how did you were
you guys friends?
Speaker 2 (28:09):
Right away? We had competing bands.
Speaker 4 (28:11):
Oh in high school, I need a competing band story?
Speaker 2 (28:13):
We did? I mean my band was way better of course. Yeah,
you know they opened for us.
Speaker 4 (28:18):
Okay, See.
Speaker 2 (28:21):
They were more j's exactly, they had more.
Speaker 4 (28:24):
J They were high on the GPH.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
He was heading the Jay Land for sure.
Speaker 5 (28:30):
No, we were in competing bands and I but I'd
like had so much respect for him. He was one
grade younger, and in that era, it's like I felt
like a lot a big difference.
Speaker 4 (28:41):
Yeah, when you're fourteen and soone's thirteen, You're like he's
a kid.
Speaker 5 (28:45):
Yeah, So you know we were we were friends but
not close in high school and then you know, out
of high school, didn't talk for you know, until I
ran into him. It was a random day, but it
was probably three and a half three and a half years,
four years out of high school. My band had naturally
fallen apart, of course, because the drummer had to go
to college and I had to work and exactly, and
(29:11):
so I was just like trying to figure out, like
what am I going to do?
Speaker 2 (29:14):
How Like I want to play music. I don't know
how I'm gonna do this.
Speaker 5 (29:17):
And I just was writing songs and knew I needed
to somehow stay in it and whatever that meant at
the time was just keep writing and you know, maybe
like go to shows.
Speaker 2 (29:30):
And talk to people.
Speaker 5 (29:31):
And so this this specific day that absolutely changed my
life was I went I was went to a guitar center.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
It was a music shop.
Speaker 4 (29:42):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
And it came out of a place of just curiosity.
I was just going to look at instruments.
Speaker 5 (29:46):
That day and just go hang around around and went in,
played some guitars and then saw Isaac walking around.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
I was like, dude, what's up?
Speaker 5 (29:57):
Man? Hadn't seen him for three and a half years whatever,
four years. He's like hey, like dude, what are you
What are you doing? Like It's like I'm just writing
and was like me too, Well should we write? Do
you want to write something? Like we should we hang
out next week?
Speaker 2 (30:13):
He was like sure, so so.
Speaker 4 (30:15):
Cute that like three or four years up prizes would
be like you want to be friends?
Speaker 2 (30:18):
Yeah? And we you know, we got together next week.
He played a song.
Speaker 5 (30:24):
I played a song and it was just like one
of those like oh yeah you got that, Oh let
me show you something like trying to impress each other
of course for sure.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
And then we just started, you know, we just started
writing and it was fire. It was just one of
those like did we just fall in love? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (30:42):
This was special?
Speaker 2 (30:42):
Just did just this just happened?
Speaker 4 (30:44):
Wow?
Speaker 5 (30:45):
And it was then, you know, a day we were
just like let's start, let's start this band let's let's
do this. And we just started writing like constantly, and
when do you start performing? We started playing shows shortly
after that. You know, it was like backyards, graduation parties,
like wherever we could play. We were not going to
(31:06):
play in.
Speaker 3 (31:06):
The church, right, that's the one place you were like,
we're not going to do there. Yeah, we're your friends
all supportive.
Speaker 5 (31:11):
Friends were Yes, friends were supportive. I mean we begged
them to come out to any show we had. You know,
that's what you like when you're a new band or
a new rs you.
Speaker 2 (31:20):
Need your friends.
Speaker 5 (31:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (31:22):
What was your marketing? Like, how were you getting like
a graduation? How would you get to play that graduation?
Speaker 2 (31:28):
Okay?
Speaker 5 (31:28):
Marketing was print to flyer, you know with your band name, yep,
Like photograph like go to go to Kinko's, put together
a little flyer thing with your with your bands, your photo, make.
Speaker 2 (31:42):
It all cool, viby emao, and just pass those around.
Speaker 4 (31:47):
Everywhere, just everywhere.
Speaker 2 (31:49):
You can put them up on you know, on the
on the pole, yeah, put.
Speaker 5 (31:53):
Them on the park bench, leave them at shows, go
to a show, leave them on the merch desk at
another band's show.
Speaker 4 (32:00):
And whose phone number was on there? Was it directly
to one of mine? They call you for sure.
Speaker 5 (32:04):
Yeah, even on our early like EPs. So we'd burn,
you know, we'd record two songs or whatever, three songs.
We'd have these we'd make. We'd make a thousand copies
and burn these CDs. Put our little slip you know,
cover in, put you know, put our number on there.
Pass those out, just like, you know, pass them out.
Try to sell them, you know if you could. But
(32:26):
just like pass them out. And then you'd get a call,
you know, maybe like one person call be like, hey,
I got a you know, backyard party. If you want
to come, I'll put you up fifty bucks.
Speaker 2 (32:34):
You yeah, we're done, we're in. Okay, we'll bring fifty
people if you want.
Speaker 5 (32:40):
Yeah. Yeah, So far and then and then it became
a little more like strategic, like all right, I'm gonna
call every venue right when I look at like who's
coming into town, and if they don't have an opener listed, like,
I will say, I'll call them and I'll call the promoter.
And I was hounding every venue in Denver just like, hey,
(33:00):
on the nineteenth, you have such and such coming in?
Speaker 2 (33:03):
Is there an opener? So smart, we'll open we'll do it.
We'll do it. I promise we'll bring fifty.
Speaker 4 (33:09):
People'll bring fifty people, will be great.
Speaker 2 (33:11):
And sure enough that that worked, you know, like here
and there.
Speaker 3 (33:16):
It worked so smart, so smart to be like, I'm
going to shoot my shot, because what's the worst thing?
Speaker 4 (33:20):
They say no?
Speaker 2 (33:21):
Right exactly? Yeah, okay.
Speaker 3 (33:23):
So I already wasn't going to do it until unless
you asked, So like I'm going to ask and then
if you say.
Speaker 4 (33:28):
Yes, now we've got a gig.
Speaker 5 (33:30):
So exactly. So we just kept writing songs. And by
the way, you know, it's easier. It was easier in
Denver to be a cover band, to play the bars
and play the songs that people want to hear.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
The hard part was.
Speaker 5 (33:40):
Playing your songs right, because like right, you know, listen,
we weren't good and you know what you said, it
was fire?
Speaker 2 (33:47):
Well to us it was okay, okay, no one could
see it.
Speaker 4 (33:51):
Yeah, it was fire was bubbling.
Speaker 2 (33:53):
Knew. I saw it in his eyes. He's out of
my eyes.
Speaker 3 (33:56):
So I was doing the math and I feel like
the fray must have been pretty dent on MySpace in
the early days.
Speaker 4 (34:03):
So who was in your top eight?
Speaker 2 (34:08):
Oh? I wanted can I can I hear your top aid,
I'm curious.
Speaker 4 (34:11):
Yeah, good question.
Speaker 3 (34:13):
Who was my top eight? My best friend Jamie, we're
still best friends. There were definitely some guys whose names
I have forgotten.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
Yeah, we don't want to mention them. Yeah, yeah, same,
I mean there were some.
Speaker 5 (34:27):
There was some girlfriends and girlfriends. Yeah, and there was
my first kiss. I like just kept trying and couldn't
bring Britney Baxter. Britney Baxter, and she was just she
lived down the street, two blocks down in the greenhouse.
Speaker 4 (34:43):
Was she so cool?
Speaker 2 (34:44):
She was so cool? And I just tried for years,
for years, Brittany and to see me now this is
so do you know what she's doing? I don't. I
have no idea.
Speaker 4 (34:55):
When was the last time you looked her up? A
long time ago?
Speaker 2 (34:59):
Yeah it was a while back, okay, yeah, but.
Speaker 4 (35:01):
She married, she she was yeah, yep.
Speaker 2 (35:05):
So I was like, okays, he's good. Yeah, yeah, she's happy.
I'm good. Okay, but that you know, everyone remembers that
first first kiss.
Speaker 3 (35:13):
She was she was in the top eight, okay, top eight,
if you were to go back to it, probably still
in the top eight. So while I was researching for
this interview, I was surprised how many times the Fray
was referred to as pop punk.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
Interesting.
Speaker 4 (35:27):
Yes, I guess I just don't typically.
Speaker 3 (35:30):
Think of you as being grouped in with like the
Warp Tour regulars of Fallout Boy or Panic at the Disco.
Speaker 4 (35:36):
Do you think of yourself as being pop punk whatever?
Speaker 5 (35:40):
Honestly, who cares the label exactly? Like however you want
to pigeon us? If anything, I feel like we always
just never belonged in a in a category because it's like,
even even in the pop category at the time when
when it was starting to work for us, you know,
it's not like lyrics like bitterness are pop lyrics in
(36:03):
a chorus, and and we didn't sound like what was
happening on pop radio. And we're from Denver and we're
isolated there, and so we were It always felt like
we didn't know where the industry didn't know where to
put us. We were lucky to like yesterday, a couple
(36:24):
of days ago, we played in the Grammy Museum, and
you know, honor to say that we lost four Grammys already,
hope we.
Speaker 4 (36:31):
Lose more, continue to keep losing those Grammys.
Speaker 5 (36:34):
But like even the categories, they didn't know how to
put our song? Is this in the pop group performance?
Speaker 2 (36:40):
Is this rock? We were in rock categories, we're in
the pop category, so you know, we're just going to
do our thing.
Speaker 4 (36:48):
I feel like that's such a compliment to really be so.
Speaker 3 (36:53):
Special and unique and of such a quality sound that
it's hard to find a thing that we can easily
how to gris you ask, like, I look, I think
that's just that's such a compliment to you. Do you
(37:16):
remember where you were when you found out that Grey's
Anatomy was going to use your song?
Speaker 2 (37:23):
I do, well.
Speaker 5 (37:24):
First it was it was like as simple as an email, like,
you know, a request for the license okay to use
the song. How to Save Life was not a single
at that time, our first single that actually changed.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
Our life, and it was over my head. Yeah, because
that one in Denver just blew up.
Speaker 5 (37:47):
Like I was like calling the radio stations like every
every time we had a new song, I would send
them songs.
Speaker 4 (37:56):
Yeah and beg them to play please plase.
Speaker 5 (37:59):
Yes, and we we got said we you know, they
turned down probably nine songs and then it was just
another song that we had and I sent it to
the program director of all the stations, all multiple and
then they were like, you know, we're gonna play this
on Sunday night.
Speaker 2 (38:14):
We got a locals are you know we'll play it.
Speaker 5 (38:16):
We were so excited, like we we knew it was
between like six pm and eight pm. So we all
met up at I think my parents' house and the
stereo was broken and we had to climb in the minivan.
Speaker 4 (38:34):
Yes, listen in the minivan.
Speaker 5 (38:35):
And turn on the and just turn on the radio.
And we were all just waiting for that moment. And
when it came on, oh wow, we just sat there
like giddy. And it ended and that minivan door came
open and we jumped out of the grass and we're
just starting to dance and we're like, oh, we just
heard our song on the radio. Didn't know what was
(38:57):
going to happen, you know, from that course, and literally
the next morning they called the station called me and
they were like, hey, like, we got a lot of
calls on this song, and so we're gonna put this
into rotation and uh And I remember him saying buckle up.
Speaker 2 (39:17):
And I was like, okay, you mean in the minivan
I was last night? I was it was safe.
Speaker 5 (39:22):
There's air bags in there. So within four days, every
label was calling my phone because remember I put him
on the CD.
Speaker 4 (39:33):
And everyone had your number, and I was like trying
to I was.
Speaker 2 (39:35):
Trying to be like manager guy. I was like, this
is a joke in the fray. Yeah, who are you going,
Leo from? What Sony? What are you gonna do for us?
Speaker 5 (39:47):
Leo?
Speaker 2 (39:47):
I'm gonna take it to dinner tonight. You're gonna flast
to New York?
Speaker 4 (39:52):
What would stereos broken at home? I could use the hystereio.
Speaker 2 (39:55):
He got a Sony radio for him.
Speaker 5 (39:58):
So it became this frenzy of labels just reached out
and it was an exciting time but also very scary
because you don't know who to trust, right And so
actually Ryan Tedder from One Republic was just a good
friend at that point and I was and he no
one knew about One Republic either, and so him and
I were like bouncing people off each other, like, Hey,
(40:20):
do you know this guy from Epic or do you
know this guy from Columbia?
Speaker 4 (40:23):
And yeah, are these people decent?
Speaker 2 (40:25):
For sure?
Speaker 5 (40:25):
Because you know we know, like you hear about it,
Yeah that it's a shady biz. Absolutely, And the artist
gets screwed. Yeah, And I did not want to be
that story right where we were just signing something we
didn't know and or somebody was taking advantage of us.
Speaker 3 (40:43):
You were savvy to even know that, because you know
a lot of people did not know and are willing
to take Sparrow JPMS.
Speaker 5 (40:51):
It was the second grade newspaper out yea in the morning.
I'm like, some day I'm not going to get screwed.
Speaker 3 (40:57):
Right, I know, I'm onto you. How long did it
take then for your life to just completely change? After
the episode aired?
Speaker 2 (41:05):
Right? So, after How to Save a Life aired, my
grandmother called me and she was like, Joey, I heard
your song on Gray's and had me and she was
so excited and so proud. And that was the first call. Yeah,
and she was like thrilled because she loved the show.
I'm a betty yeah. And so I was like, oh,
(41:26):
you does that what's on your It's on your radar? Yeah?
Speaker 5 (41:31):
And it was, you know, I think because the band
was already we had a fan base, and we were
already touring.
Speaker 2 (41:40):
You know, from over my head what was happening.
Speaker 5 (41:44):
The timing couldn't have been better, because I do think
looking back, I've how to Save a Life was the
first thing that happened for us through Grays. We may
have been just super pigeoned into you know that.
Speaker 4 (41:58):
I only thankfully had over my head right far.
Speaker 2 (42:00):
Yeah, so that there was there was already, you know,
like we were a band before that, right, and it.
Speaker 4 (42:06):
Was happening and so like Big Street cred already in
a way.
Speaker 5 (42:11):
I don't know, but like at least our fans knew, yeah,
you know exactly. I don't know if like like the
core fans knew obviously, those that found us through how
To through grades, you know, did so. And that's great, right,
you know you're not gonna I mean you got to
you know, get you get your music hurt somehow totally.
And at that time too, there was there was I remember,
(42:32):
like wrestling with the idea of licensing the song or
any song to TV or commercials because there was like
a there was there was a time where artists were
like there was a it was a sellout.
Speaker 4 (42:44):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 3 (42:44):
By the way, now you are applauded for selling out
in twenty twenty six, everyone's like get that bag, honey.
Speaker 2 (42:50):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 3 (42:51):
Back in the day, you even did anything that could
be thought of as selling out and people were ready
to attack you.
Speaker 5 (42:57):
Oh, and there was so it was a there was
a big fear around this because artists were like, I
don't know, press or something. We're hard on it if
you license your song. And I remember before that Grays
thing the man called Wilco that I love. They got
a bunch of flak for a license that they did,
(43:19):
and it was like everybody, it was so much blowback,
and they issued a statement they were like, we we
are sorry that we made money.
Speaker 3 (43:28):
I apologize that the thing I love to do and
I'm very good at has been profitable for me.
Speaker 5 (43:34):
Which is funny because then five years later they reverse
course and you know, and that's what you do because
it's like, come on, I mean, we're artists.
Speaker 2 (43:41):
We gotta like we gotta eat you.
Speaker 5 (43:43):
Of course, so I remember wrestling with it and then
we just was like all right, let's just do it
and just say yes to this, and and then it
became like it's just like then there was like scrubs
and so many different like sinks, and I was like
(44:03):
HBO and like just blown away with like how our
music was being used, you know, and it didn't take
anything away from like the integrity of the band exactly,
you know, because we didn't write the songs for for
those shows. We wrote them because they were true, you know,
and they were they came from like we were talking about,
they came from questions.
Speaker 2 (44:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (44:26):
In fact, it's funny because my publisher I remember signing,
you know, my first publishing deal, and it was before
any of the Sinks came through.
Speaker 2 (44:35):
We sat down to have the meeting when they heard
the record and they.
Speaker 5 (44:38):
Told they told me they were like, we don't think
there's anything on here that's licensable.
Speaker 2 (44:43):
It's just not a sink record. There's no sinks, you know,
sink songs. And I was like, okay, well, why did
you Why do we meet today? Right? So you never know?
Speaker 4 (44:56):
Yeah, yeah, I trust me. We have some emails.
Speaker 3 (45:00):
Let's say I don't think Podmeats World is a podcast exactly.
Speaker 4 (45:03):
Okay, cool?
Speaker 2 (45:04):
Thanks.
Speaker 3 (45:05):
I found a very fun jingle ball from two thousand
and nine and I wanted you to hear this lineup.
Jordan Sparks, Jayshawn Cobra, Starship Hit Bull owl City, Justin Bieber.
Speaker 2 (45:16):
Yes, and the Fray Oh yes.
Speaker 3 (45:18):
If Spotify shuffled in that order, I might think I
was hacked first time.
Speaker 2 (45:24):
Yeah, oh my goodness.
Speaker 5 (45:27):
First off, justin Bieber, that was the first time we met,
really and actually the last time time I've seen.
Speaker 2 (45:33):
Yeah, I haven't.
Speaker 5 (45:34):
I haven't seen him, so we just haven't crossed paths,
although like friends will send me like help posts our song,
you know, and our songs in general and vibing with
the music. Yeah, And but I remember I didn't know
him before that show because it was like right when
he was it was happening. But I remember we played
(45:58):
and then I was backstage in the frequency of screams.
Speaker 2 (46:07):
Was piercing through the wall, right and I was like,
on the other side of a wall, what is going
on in this arena right now?
Speaker 5 (46:17):
And so I went in there and it was like
a pitch that I had to like plug my ears.
Yeah yeah, And then I saw him up on stage.
I was like, damn this, I'm just I'm seeing a
legend right here, you know. And uh yeah, I mean
I hope to collaborate with him at some point.
Speaker 4 (46:37):
That would be incredible something.
Speaker 2 (46:40):
If not, I'm always gonna be a fan.
Speaker 3 (46:42):
Oh yeah, I would love to. I would love to
see that. I really would. That sounds like a good
crossover for me.
Speaker 4 (46:47):
Do you like doing radio shows.
Speaker 2 (46:50):
You know, for the reason.
Speaker 5 (46:53):
Of coming across an artist that you never would have
not otherwise be a like been in the same circle.
It's a bit of a like, okay, dance, you know,
dance for now three seconds or you know, But I
don't know, like I appreciate them. They're like they're they're
banger you know, banger shows.
Speaker 2 (47:15):
You just play the hits and that's what it's about.
Speaker 4 (47:17):
Get out.
Speaker 5 (47:20):
So you know, we I'd be I'd be down. We
actually did one maybe a year ago Teddy swims yes,
and again to my point, like I hadn't you know,
met Teddy. Yeah, And we were playing the same show
and backstage we're just like hanging a vibe.
Speaker 2 (47:36):
In and saw his show.
Speaker 5 (47:39):
I just love him as a person, and we just
got to like, you know, got to chat that night
hang And then the next night we played a second
radio show and I was like, dude, you want to
like you want to come out and sing, like let's
He's like, yeah, let's do let's go. Yeah, And so
then it became a collaboration. Yeah, you know, and now
we're friends and.
Speaker 4 (47:59):
So in that sense, yes, it introduces you like it.
Speaker 5 (48:03):
Art inspires art, Creative inspires creative, so like, yeah, I'm
a fan.
Speaker 3 (48:09):
You celebrated twenty years of How to Save a Life
last year with a world tour you played across in
North America and Europe, all leading to the new album
that just dropped. How does revisiting old music in such
a big way affect when you're writing new music.
Speaker 5 (48:27):
It's a good question. I I don't think it's in
my my orbit when I'm writing new music. I I
just have to write what's true, and that's all I
have control of. Like I don't want to try to
replicate or try to worry. I don't worry about is
this what are they going to think?
Speaker 2 (48:46):
This is pray?
Speaker 5 (48:48):
Or are they you know, going to connect to this
because that was just that just I've been there before
and that crushes me. It just kills my creative or
it just feels forced and it's like fake or something.
So I just have to just surrender to what's true,
you know, And is this something I love? Is this
(49:10):
something we love as a band, And really, at the
end of the day, that's that's all we did at
the beginning, and that's all we're doing now is just
like release what's true, what we love enough to share
with the world, and proud and proud that we're still
doing this as a band and not only still but better. Yeah,
And and like the shows are so fun, Like I
(49:34):
love playing the body of work, you know, because there's
more stars in the sky yep, you know, and they're
all they're all there. You are a little spot in
the sky whatever it is, like we get to we
get to share those night after night, and you can
feel the story in the room.
Speaker 3 (49:51):
And when you've had a career for as long as
you have, that longevity gives you hindsight and now you
can look back as you're playing songs from twenty years
ago and you know how it all turns out. I mean,
there's still a lot of future, so you don't know
how it all turns out. But there's a different feeling
when you have some space from some of your earlier
art and are able to appreciate it in a new way.
(50:14):
And now you are going to be out on the
road with Dashboard Confessional for the Summer of Light tour.
What is the biggest difference between Joking touring twenty years
ago and jo King touring.
Speaker 5 (50:27):
Now, well, that's a good question. I'm certainly not worried
about the same things. Okay, okay, so less worried about.
Speaker 2 (50:39):
You know, yeah what people think. Maybe I'm more worried about.
Speaker 5 (50:45):
Oh, I shouldn't drink that, right, I shouldn't eat that
before the show, right, and then after the show I
should probably rest.
Speaker 3 (50:54):
Yes, exactly, I'm going to actually go to sleep, right,
I'm going to drink by electrolyte water.
Speaker 5 (50:59):
I know it's it's geeky, you know, but I'm just like,
if I want to have a longevity here, and I
want to do this into my like seventies, pray to God,
we can, like I want to.
Speaker 2 (51:11):
Sing these songs all the rest of my life, totally,
you know. And so and I want to do it.
Speaker 5 (51:15):
Well, you know, I mean fans that come to these shows.
I mean they spend their money, they spend their time,
they spend it's hard to go to shows, like you
gotta wait in lines, you gotta park, you got all
this stuff, all these variables, these and they I want
to give them the best. Yes, I want to give
them our best. And so that just means making decisions differently, yeah,
which means that you do not have them as much fun.
Speaker 3 (51:37):
Listen, you're preaching to the choir. I've been saying to
people for a long time.
Speaker 4 (51:42):
I'm sorry.
Speaker 3 (51:42):
I'm just not that fun anymore. I have fun in
a different way now. Eight thirty pm in bed is
so exciting.
Speaker 5 (51:49):
I love it, like with dashboard, like Chris like, I'm
going to reach out to him soon, just so we
can hang before the tour.
Speaker 4 (51:56):
Yes, because we're not going to have time if we
try to hang on the Yeah, it's.
Speaker 2 (52:01):
We're gonna be midway through. We'll be like, hey, oh
next week is it?
Speaker 1 (52:06):
Like?
Speaker 2 (52:06):
Is there?
Speaker 4 (52:07):
And then for the next one. But did I think
things slow down?
Speaker 2 (52:09):
Guess what?
Speaker 4 (52:10):
They never slow down.
Speaker 2 (52:11):
I don't know. So I want to like hang with
him before the tour start. Just vibe. Have an early
dinner for sure, early dinner.
Speaker 5 (52:18):
Yeah, we can have our fun pre tour. Pre tour,
we're gonna go hard, Chris and I are gonna go hard, hard, cold.
Speaker 3 (52:25):
Give yourself two weeks to recover before the startup. I'm
not done with Joe King of the Fray quite yet.
This Friday, we will have a bonus episode with Joe
on the dedicated teen Beat podcast Feed so just search
for us in your favorite streaming service and subscribe. That way,
you will never miss another episode. We're even gonna listen
to a voice memo from one of you that was
(52:47):
willing to share the story from childhood that still keeps
you up at night.
Speaker 4 (52:51):
And if you're down to clown, we want to hear
from you.
Speaker 3 (52:54):
Just send a voice note of your tale to Teenbeatpod
at gmail dot com and we just play it and
make sure to check out the phrase new album A
Light that Waits and see them on the Summer of
Light tour date and more information is that The Fred
is an iHeart podcast produced and hosted by Danielle Fischel.
Executive producers Jensen Karp and Amy Sugarman, Executive in charge
(53:16):
of production Danielle Romo, producer and editor Tara Subach.
Speaker 4 (53:20):
The theme song is by mar Coppus. Yes that Mark Coppus.
Follow us on Instagram at teen Beatpod.
Let's see that's okay, because no one here is.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Hello.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
It is time for another podcast episode, so let's teen
the beat around. Nope, I'm embarrassed. I even tried that one. Okay,
back to the drawing board. It's Danielle Fischel and this
is Team Beat, a podcast where I interview interesting people
about their teenage years, a time where they were possibly
a little less interesting. I'm looking to connect with these
(00:49):
celebrities and get the awkward truth, the embarrassing underbelly of
life before the fame, when pimples and getting your driver's
license were your biggest concerns, and yes, face all these
challenges while beamed to millions of households as the female
lead on a beloved family sitcom That was my life.
So I see it like this. I gave you my childhood.
(01:12):
It's time we hear yours. And my guest this week
turned his Denver, Colorado church upbringing playing in bands with
classmates into a multi platinum Grammy nominated career with songs
that can bring you right back to an exact moment
in your life with just a few opening notes. His
band's debut album, two thousand and five's How to Save
(01:33):
a Life went quadruple platinum and was part of a
movement that bridged the gap for spiritually Christian rock music
to enter the mainstream, a feat once considered totally impossible.
Their biggest hit, the title track off the album How
to Save A Life, became an all out aughts banger
when it was first featured on both an episode of
Grey's Anatomy then as the music for its upcoming season
(01:57):
premiere promo. A massive musical achievement back when TV meant something,
the song peaked at number three on the charts and
tied Carlos Santana's Smooth as the seventh longest charting single
at the time. With fifty eight consecutive weeks. They've survived
rotating members, hiatus, exhaustion, numerous stages of the music industry,
(02:18):
and I bet some sort of natural disaster so to
have celebrated the twentieth anniversary of that first record with
an international tour in twenty twenty five, and now a
brand new album, A Light that waits available to stream everywhere.
But even with all that musical success, I feel like
behind the instrument and emotional lyrics, there could just be
(02:40):
an awkward teen ready to chat. And so this week
I'm excited to welcome to the newest episode of teen Beat.
Vocalist and guitarist of The Fray Joe King.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Hello, Hello, thank you for having me.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
Thank you so much for being here. Listen.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
When iHeart said to me that there was even the
possibility that I could interview you, I was like, drop everything.
Speaker 4 (03:03):
Clear my schedule, please make it happen.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
If they say he's very awkward, so this will work, well.
Speaker 4 (03:08):
They did not. Okay, and so I've had a couple
of minutes to chat with you. You don't strike me as awkward.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Oh, I lean into it.
Speaker 4 (03:15):
You Yeah, embrace the awkward absolutely.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
I think.
Speaker 5 (03:17):
Actually it was beautifully written, by the way that introduction,
Thank you, that was wonderful.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
You you are deserving of isn't it cool to hear
your accomplishments like read background.
Speaker 5 (03:28):
I just learned things too, like like oh, we did
survive natural disasters.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Am I exhausted?
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Still?
Speaker 2 (03:35):
You know?
Speaker 3 (03:35):
I threw in the exhaustion because I feel like, at
least at my age, it's just everyone's a little exhausted.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Right, Yeah, it's yeah.
Speaker 5 (03:43):
So I promised to be awkward today, okay, And well
let's just take you know, take it where it goes.
Speaker 4 (03:48):
I love it.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
Let's first start with Denver. Okay, you were born and
raised in Colorado. As a California native, we were told
that everyone who lives there was either a major hippie
to Ken Bay Matombo. So where did you fall on
that scale?
Speaker 5 (04:05):
Well, Denver, I mean it's changed so much right since
since I was a little one, and you know, it
was it was just more of a sports town for.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
A while growing up.
Speaker 5 (04:14):
I mean it was like if you weren't a Broncos fan,
you were gonna have to run from people, so you
needed to wrap the Broncos, which I still do proudly good.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
But then it became very like.
Speaker 5 (04:28):
Artist friendly town and like more of a music forward
town because I think because first off, the people love
to go see music, like like Denver rights like love
going to see live music. Coupled with the fact that
like some of the best venues in the world are there.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
I mean, I don't know if you've been to Red Rocks.
Speaker 4 (04:46):
I have not been there.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
You have to go see a show at Red Rocks.
Speaker 5 (04:50):
Everybody listen to this, go see you should go, like
look up your favorite artists and go see a show
at Red Rocks.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
It's it's legendary. Yeah, it's been around.
Speaker 5 (04:57):
It was it was a natural amphitheater. It was basically
like used for like a church services before amplification. So
they would sing I've heard.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
The Grateful I've heard Grateful Dead recordings there.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Oh yeah, the.
Speaker 5 (05:11):
Beatles have played there, Johnny Cash. I mean the history
is on the walls backstage. So anyway, the venues in
Denver provide, like you know, just for live music and
people love going and so being an artist from there,
I mean it was always our dream to play Red Rocks,
you know, but yeah, we started there, and you know,
like I said, Denver became more of a music town
(05:31):
and then you've seen like over the years, you've seen
artists come out of Denver every couple of years. It
was like, well, Big Head Todd was early the samples,
and then then we came on on the scene there
and then from that point it was like there's a
bank a group called three zero three Flobots if you remember, Yeah,
(05:52):
they were Denver, and then Nathania Rylift and and then
you know, Lumineerous guys live there. So it's like it's
a it's just a beautiful scene. It's a beautiful place
to be as an artist because home there's hometown pride.
Speaker 4 (06:04):
That's really great.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
Your dad was a pastor, Well, so did you grow
up in church music? Like was were either of your
parents musical?
Speaker 5 (06:13):
They they weren't musical. There was always church music around,
and yes, that was that was what I what was
I was exposed to early, you know, as a kid.
And and honestly, some of those those old hymns and
old uh you know, praise songs are gorgeous, like heart
wrenchingly gorgeous, yes, and and melodically and even lyrically are
(06:36):
very universal. And you know, so that I think there's
there's also like I've met so many artists along the
way that that have come up in the church.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
You know.
Speaker 5 (06:47):
I grew up in the church and learned how to
you know, learned how to play church songs. And yeah,
and there's something there with it. I don't know what
it is in the water of these songs. It maybe
like there's a pop sensibility or something in in church
songs because if you think about it, like they need
to be songs that people can sing right away, yeah, right,
(07:07):
and they need to be lyrics that people can you know,
connect to and emotionally like attached to. So I don't know,
there was there was elements there that maybe was like
preparing me for songwriting in general. But yeah, that was
that was some of my backgrounds in the church.
Speaker 4 (07:22):
What was it like having a pastor for a father
as a kid.
Speaker 5 (07:27):
That's been a that's been a journey to Yeah, yeah,
well yeah, I mean there's you know, it's I couldn't
you know, couldn't be myself. I loved I loved my childhood,
Don't get me wrong, I do like you know, so
I was so proud. I'm so proud of my dad
and my mom for how they navigated life. I mean
(07:50):
I was the youngest of five kids. You know, pastors
don't make a lot of money.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
No, they're definitely not doing it because they want to
make a bunch of banks.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
You're not.
Speaker 5 (07:58):
You're there because you're heart, you know, and you feel
a greater purpose.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
So I knew that there was a greater purpose there,
you know.
Speaker 5 (08:06):
But it was it was a struggle for the family
to to to pay the bills.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
My mom was really the bread winner. She was a nurse,
so you know, it ended.
Speaker 5 (08:18):
Up teaching me a lot first off, because you know,
we had to contribute early, like to helping pay for
soccer gear or sports stuff. So I remember having a
newspaper route in the second grade and my brother and
I would go out before school. We had it for
my entire elementary you know, from second to sixth grade,
(08:39):
delivering papers in the morning.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
You know, and you know, you make a little money
and that.
Speaker 5 (08:45):
Would help pay for cleats and bags, so you know, yeah,
it was the financial aspect was it was a struggle.
And I saw that as I as I got older
in my dad and it taking a toll on him
that he was giving his life to help people.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
But yeah, his family was struggling. Yeah.
Speaker 5 (09:10):
So and outside of that, you know, being raised in
the church, Yeah, like I said, I didn't feel comfortable
in my own skin, Yeah, because I felt like I
had to be you know, maybe like a version that
like would make my parents proud or make God proud, right,
and held.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
To a higher standard maybe also by everyone in the community,
because you're a reflection of him.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Right.
Speaker 5 (09:32):
So then I went to the dark side, and there
were years I did. I became good at it, and
you know, through junior high years early high school was
in a lot of trouble really yeah, and it just
was something in me.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Yeah, I needed I don't know if it was.
Speaker 5 (10:00):
The adrenaline, but doing things that I knew I wasn't
supposed to do gave me this like this like this energy.
Speaker 4 (10:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (10:09):
And I was surrounded by friends that were wanting to
do the same thing.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
Right.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
But what I got good at was not getting caught.
Speaker 4 (10:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
See that's where you and I are so different. I
I got caught all the time. Okay, Yeah, anytime I
tried anything, I was immediately caught.
Speaker 4 (10:25):
I was. I was terrible at getting away with anything.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
So did just see it on your face?
Speaker 4 (10:30):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (10:30):
Both see it on my face. And also my mom
was just like very in tune. You said you were
the youngest of five, so one the babies of the
family are always reckless.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
I think you're right for sure.
Speaker 4 (10:43):
They're just like, what do I have to lose?
Speaker 3 (10:45):
There's I've got too many parents because all your siblings
feel like adults to you too, And so yeah, I
think the first real bad thing I ever did was
smoke a cigarette. And I think my mom I didn't
even bother to try to not smell like it. My
mom just knew right away, Like I can smell you.
You smell like smoke. Like I was just bad at
(11:05):
getting away with things. So I'm envious that you knew
how to hide.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
I don't know if it's the youngest thing.
Speaker 5 (11:10):
Yeah, And I certainly had to work on that in
my adult life, like, oh, it's actually not good to hide.
Speaker 4 (11:15):
Yeah, Jack, Yeah, you don't want to be great at that.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
Don't want to be good at that.
Speaker 4 (11:18):
Only when you're a kid does it pay off, right,
and some only sometimes?
Speaker 5 (11:21):
And it did literally because yeah, I speaking of cigarettes,
I like there was there was there were grocery stores
that I would go to and in the aisles they
still had like chewing tobacco.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Yeah, not behind the counter.
Speaker 4 (11:34):
Wow, okay.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
Yeah, And so I wore.
Speaker 5 (11:36):
Baked jackets and would slip those big packages in my
jacket and walk out and then sell them.
Speaker 4 (11:47):
Yeah, and you were an entrepreneur.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
I mean I was trying to contribute to the family exactly.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
Did it also make you working from the time you
were in second grade and saying it was going to
things like cleat? Did it make you more discerning about
what you wanted to try, like what you what was
like you wanted to play soccer or baseball because you're
like I have, this is my money, I'm working hard
for that.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
There is something to it because I didn't take it
for granted.
Speaker 5 (12:14):
I knew that, like, Okay, these cleats, these Copa Adidas
copas that I just bought with like kangaroo leather, like iron,
those and I want to take care of those and
I'm going to polish them and I'm going to keep
them clean.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
And I was proud of those cleans, So it should
be there's something.
Speaker 5 (12:35):
There's something in that, you know that it taught me
to appreciation of things and also maybe since generation too.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
You know, I remember going with my mom to the
grocery store.
Speaker 5 (12:45):
She would save coupons, we'd have, she'd have like every week,
she'd have a stack of coupons that she'd cut out
from mailers, from magazine, you know, all the stuff. So
I'd go with her and it was my task to
go with her to the grocery store and find these items.
Speaker 4 (13:02):
And we're in the coupon. That's what we're buying this
week because we've got a coupon for it.
Speaker 5 (13:05):
Yeah, and then you know, my reward was this chocolate
pie at the end of it, which were like those
those like crusted like almost cow zone.
Speaker 4 (13:15):
Yeah, yeah, I know what you're talking about, you know.
Speaker 5 (13:18):
At the time, and like, I was so excited to
get that chocolate.
Speaker 4 (13:24):
That's so cute. I love that.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
My one of my chores growing up was I had
to cook dinner with my mom every night, so I
had to stay at My mom was a stay at
home mom, and so she, you know, cleaned the house
every day, She made dinner every night, and I would
come home from school, have to clean up the dog
poop in the backyard, everyone's favorite shore, and then come
in get cleaned up, and then time to help my
(13:46):
mom make dinner.
Speaker 4 (13:47):
And at the time, I remember thinking, oh why do
I have to hell make dinner?
Speaker 3 (13:53):
And in hindsight, it's some of my favorite memories with
my mom because all we would do just talk the
whole time the vegetables, boil the water, and then just
share about our days. And it's probably exactly how she
knew the minute I did anything wrong then as a teenager,
because she had been locked in with me every night
while we cooked, she just knew me too. Well, right,
(14:26):
was your dad a fan of your music?
Speaker 4 (14:28):
Is your dad a fan of your music.
Speaker 5 (14:30):
You know. That was an interesting process journey there too,
you know, because I through high school, I started to
like lead the praise band you know, at at my
school and at church.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
My dad stopped pastoring.
Speaker 5 (14:45):
When I was in eighth grade, okay, and just transitioned
into a different point in life. He honestly, he got
burned out from what I when I talked about he
just could not, you know, couldn't deal with not providing
anymore for the fam.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
So he stepped away, pivoted.
Speaker 5 (15:05):
But you know, the church was always you know important
still anyway, Like, yeah, I started playing church songs, and
then I wanted to start a band, you know, and
so in ninth grade I started my first.
Speaker 4 (15:16):
BANDO nin grade.
Speaker 5 (15:19):
We were we were called well, it was after I
heard there was a band called Nirvana.
Speaker 4 (15:25):
Yeah, of course you may have heard of them.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Yeah, you may have heard.
Speaker 5 (15:29):
Because I had older siblings, I was exposed to you know,
music at a younger age, and.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
I loved like what they were listening to.
Speaker 5 (15:36):
And I remember my brother having his friends over and
they put on Nevermind Smells like teen Spearit. It was
in the winter time, and I heard this song and
I my I started to like shake and like my
heart rate was racing and and I couldn't help myself.
(15:58):
And after that song, and I remember running upstairs in
my underwear and immediately running out into the backyard which
was which was covered with about six inches of snow,
and just dove in the snow. What am I doing?
But I'm feeling something. And I didn't put it together
(16:19):
at that point, but I at that it just lit
something in me. They're like, I want to I want
to be in a band. I want to start a band.
And so it was within a year or so ninth grade,
so I started my first band, started writing songs, started
playing songs anywhere you know I could, we could as
a band. It was like, you know, our friend's party,
(16:41):
at their mom's house or whatever.
Speaker 4 (16:44):
And how did you know how to start writing songs?
Like what was that process for you? Because like, I
don't know the first thing about writing a song.
Speaker 5 (16:51):
Honestly, I didn't. I didn't know I was a songwriter
until my aunt gave me a guitar. And that was
in the eighth grade, shortly after Nirvana. For a song
I learned was come as you Are Wow. But once
she gave me the guitar. I couldn't stop, I couldn't
(17:12):
put it down, and it just I just started writing writing,
you know, learned learned Nirvana, and then I just started
writing songs. So it just wasn't like a thought out thing.
But also it's interesting because I didn't know that I
was that was supposed I was supposed to do that.
It just it's interesting when I when I look back,
even talking about it now, that like it took someone
(17:35):
giving me an instrument, you know, or or like providing
something you know, uh in life that you weren't expecting.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
Yeah, and and it changes the course of your life.
Speaker 4 (17:46):
Was it a new guitar? Was it one of her guitars?
Speaker 5 (17:48):
It was just it was it was it was called
a Franciscan just an acoustic guitar, like not expensive, like
just kind of a cheap one.
Speaker 4 (17:56):
Have you ever asked her what made her think?
Speaker 5 (17:59):
Like I have thanked her a thousand times and she
is such a wonderful light to this day and in
my life. And she feels like this sense of like
you know, pride to and shared story that like she
influenced you know, me becoming a musician by giving me
an instrument. And and that's also something that like, you know,
(18:22):
I've I've wanted to help when I can. Like I
went back to my my middle school for instance, you know,
a few years back, and tried to like you know,
talk talk to the kids about music, talked about like
you know, instruments, and just like getting an instrument in kids' hands,
like give them the opportunity to like pick up something, yes,
(18:43):
and play, just to see, because like you don't know
in life until you try, you know, and like if
you don't try, you'll definitely never know.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
So yeah, it was, it was, it was.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
It was a lucky gift that I feel such a
sense of responsibility.
Speaker 4 (18:59):
I have two boys.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
I have a seven year old and an almost five
year old, and I realized like from my mom, my
mom growing up loved makeup and had she not been
the child of two immigrant parents who thought that corporate
America was where you needed to be. If you were
going to be anything in this life, you needed to
be in corporate America, the idea if she had said
she wanted to be a makeup artist would have been
(19:23):
so immediately shut down. But she literally didn't even know
that was an option. And like the sense of responsibility
when you realize that kids only know what their options
are if you kind of reveal it to them, like,
you know, providing opportunity to say, hey, you want to
play this, you want to see if this is interesting
(19:43):
to you? Like, thank god your aunt thought that for you,
and it Look what came pouring out of you after.
Speaker 4 (19:51):
It's amazing.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
It's so true. So and it does.
Speaker 5 (19:54):
It takes other people. I think you can't see yourself clearly, right,
You're right, like we're kind of mind it to who
we who who we are in some ways, and then
others can see it before you can, and like and
they either recognize it or they tell you or they
give you and it changes your life because then you
(20:16):
see yourself clearly.
Speaker 2 (20:18):
Oh I am a musician. Oh I just needed this guitar?
Speaker 4 (20:22):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (20:22):
Yes, Were you ever sneaking CDs around? Was there any
music your parents did not want you to listen to.
Speaker 4 (20:29):
That you had to listen to?
Speaker 2 (20:31):
So? Yes, I was around church music. That doesn't mean
I was listening to church music. They had no idea.
What I was listening to.
Speaker 5 (20:40):
Junior high years was all West Coast rap, the best. Yeah,
that's what my friends was listening to that was like
n w A. That was dre that era, and it
was on my Walkman all the time.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
And loved it. So they had no idea that Bitches
Ain't Shit was my go to song before matth Orry.
Speaker 4 (21:07):
They don't listen to this podcast, so you're good.
Speaker 3 (21:13):
My favorite album was Doggy Style Snoop Dogg's Doggy Style
and we I had a family reunion in San Luis
Obispo and it was the first year I started driving,
So it was like nineteen ninety seven and I was
in my Toyota Forerunner and I had my windows down.
I was driving alone, just blasting that music. And I
(21:33):
look back on in hindsight and I think, yeah, I
can understand why my parents were like, oh, do you.
Speaker 4 (21:39):
This is what you want to listen to?
Speaker 3 (21:40):
But boy, it was the best of the best, just
so much fun. Uh you know, the Fray and Boy
Meets World do share a source of inspiration?
Speaker 2 (21:49):
What do we go?
Speaker 4 (21:50):
Counting crows?
Speaker 1 (21:51):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (21:52):
God? I mean how great? And like still great?
Speaker 4 (21:56):
So great.
Speaker 5 (21:57):
I am a fan of any band that's doing it,
to be honest, and longevity in a band is so
difficult to stay, to keep creating, to keep getting through
like all the that you said, the natural disasters, yes,
the personal disasters, they collective disasters, you know, egos, So
it's just you know, it's multiple marriages in one and
(22:21):
navigating that is.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
That's why all.
Speaker 5 (22:25):
Bands break up, change or evolve, you know, and we
did all three of those things exactly.
Speaker 3 (22:31):
Yeah, I mean, adapting is one of the hardest things
that an entity can do, especially while maintaining integrity, because
how do you maintain integrity in an ever changing world
and find trying to find where like you said, we
don't necessarily see ourselves. So even then as a band
or an artist, to see how your artistry has its
(22:53):
own place in an ever changing landscape, it's a lot.
Speaker 4 (22:57):
So you're right.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
Anytime a band can do it and do it successfully
for decades, they deserve creddit.
Speaker 4 (23:04):
Growing up in the church, What were your thoughts on
Christian rock?
Speaker 5 (23:09):
So that's that's that's probably the one of the bigger
misconceptions of our of our band is that we were
not a Christian band.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
That that was never the intention. In fact, we were
very intentional.
Speaker 5 (23:24):
About non Christian Christian band because because it was you know,
it was first off, when I when I was writing
these songs. I would early on, I would try them
at church and they did not work. I was like,
why don't they get why don't they question anything?
Speaker 2 (23:46):
Yeah? Like, am I the only one that's questioning this?
Like what's going on?
Speaker 5 (23:51):
And I just realized that at that time, questioning wasn't
really allowed, and I needed my art.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
To be free and my songs to be for.
Speaker 5 (24:06):
Everyone and not to have an answer, right, And so
I realized, I want to I want to write these songs.
We want to we want to start this band, and
we want this music to be real and not the
church music isn't real. I'm not saying that Christian rock
isn't real. That's that's that's true, and it and it
serves a purpose, you know, for me and for us.
(24:29):
We just had more questions, yes, than we had answers.
So those early records were all about questions. And in
a way, I mean, if you look at music in general,
or you know, rock, pop, rock, whatever, there's there's a
sense of rebellion and and and for us, our rebellion
was we're not in the church doing this. If they
if the church wants to come, they can come to
(24:51):
the bar and see us play, you know, because we
want everybody to be able to see this.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
Yeah, and that was hard for for my parents at first.
Speaker 5 (25:00):
Yeah, you know, because I think that they they thought
maybe I'd be the one like leading church service for
you know, forty years playing playing songs every Sunday, right,
and when they when they heard some of those early
songs about you know, questions.
Speaker 4 (25:14):
It's a little uncomfortable, very yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
Is it kind of it kind of shakes shakes.
Speaker 4 (25:19):
Up some things, Yeah, shakes your foundation. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
Yeah, so yeah, it was.
Speaker 5 (25:23):
You know, so that that is a misconception a bit
of the of the band, and that's okay. I mean
there's been other bands the same same type of thing.
I mean Katy Perry was you know, started that way
and she evolved and you know One Republic. They are
good friends of mine, Ryan, you know, we've talked about
it a bunch, and you know, so even Kings of Leon,
(25:44):
guys like those guys came from you know, a preacher
put your background and you know you realize like, okay,
like what do you who are you?
Speaker 2 (25:51):
What do you want to say? Yeap, So yeah, that
was that was a bit of the story for us.
Speaker 4 (25:57):
I think hearing you talk about that was making me
think like the same way.
Speaker 3 (26:02):
So there's like the rock title, and then under the
rock title you get Christian rock over here, and then
you get like what you guys were doing. It's a
little like boy Meets It's like a sitcom. You guys
were like, we don't want to be a sitcom. You know,
like Christian rock, it has a moral and it's wrapped
up really nicely in twenty two minutes.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
Well, there was a thing called jpms. Have you ever
heard of that?
Speaker 5 (26:20):
In the Christian scene at that time, if you were
considered to be a Christian artist, you had to have
a certain amount of Jesus per minute references.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
Jesus we had zero.
Speaker 4 (26:32):
Right, zero jpm's mom it was negative.
Speaker 5 (26:35):
It was like it got down there, negative fifty jpms. Yeah,
but I remember the first actually it was interestly, the
first label that came to check us out was a
Christian label, okay, and we were playing a show in
Denver and they after the show, you know, we went
(26:58):
out and hung for a bit, and then it was
like a couple of days later they circled back and
we were just curious.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
And the labels was called Sparrow.
Speaker 5 (27:08):
And they circle back and they were like, you know,
we're just it's just not you know, not our thing,
and so you know, we're going to pass and we're
That was interesting because if they would have offered something,
it would have.
Speaker 3 (27:19):
Been hard to not look at it right right, because
it would have really been faced with, like dow, we
throw in a couple of jpms, do we.
Speaker 5 (27:28):
Get just just you know it's lowercase J little just
every now and you know it's just a slight left
jay just to get that, you know, just to quit
our jobs. So but they passed, and.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
That was interesting because we didn't have to make the
decision at all. Yeah, we're gonna we're gonna do.
Speaker 4 (27:57):
Better better without you.
Speaker 3 (27:59):
It's so in high school, that's where you meet Isaac Slade, right, yeah, okay,
and he is a co founder of the band.
Speaker 4 (28:06):
Yes okay, and so what was how did you were
you guys friends?
Speaker 2 (28:09):
Right away? We had competing bands.
Speaker 4 (28:11):
Oh in high school, I need a competing band story?
Speaker 2 (28:13):
We did? I mean my band was way better of course. Yeah,
you know they opened for us.
Speaker 4 (28:18):
Okay, See.
Speaker 2 (28:21):
They were more j's exactly, they had more.
Speaker 4 (28:24):
J They were high on the GPH.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
He was heading the Jay Land for sure.
Speaker 5 (28:30):
No, we were in competing bands and I but I'd
like had so much respect for him. He was one
grade younger, and in that era, it's like I felt
like a lot a big difference.
Speaker 4 (28:41):
Yeah, when you're fourteen and soone's thirteen, You're like he's
a kid.
Speaker 5 (28:45):
Yeah, So you know we were we were friends but
not close in high school and then you know, out
of high school, didn't talk for you know, until I
ran into him. It was a random day, but it
was probably three and a half three and a half years,
four years out of high school. My band had naturally
fallen apart, of course, because the drummer had to go
to college and I had to work and exactly, and
(29:11):
so I was just like trying to figure out, like
what am I going to do?
Speaker 2 (29:14):
How Like I want to play music. I don't know
how I'm gonna do this.
Speaker 5 (29:17):
And I just was writing songs and knew I needed
to somehow stay in it and whatever that meant at
the time was just keep writing and you know, maybe
like go to shows.
Speaker 2 (29:30):
And talk to people.
Speaker 5 (29:31):
And so this this specific day that absolutely changed my
life was I went I was went to a guitar center.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
It was a music shop.
Speaker 4 (29:42):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
And it came out of a place of just curiosity.
I was just going to look at instruments.
Speaker 5 (29:46):
That day and just go hang around around and went in,
played some guitars and then saw Isaac walking around.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
I was like, dude, what's up?
Speaker 5 (29:57):
Man? Hadn't seen him for three and a half years whatever,
four years. He's like hey, like dude, what are you
What are you doing? Like It's like I'm just writing
and was like me too, Well should we write? Do
you want to write something? Like we should we hang
out next week?
Speaker 2 (30:13):
He was like sure, so so.
Speaker 4 (30:15):
Cute that like three or four years up prizes would
be like you want to be friends?
Speaker 2 (30:18):
Yeah? And we you know, we got together next week.
He played a song.
Speaker 5 (30:24):
I played a song and it was just like one
of those like oh yeah you got that, Oh let
me show you something like trying to impress each other
of course for sure.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
And then we just started, you know, we just started
writing and it was fire. It was just one of
those like did we just fall in love? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (30:42):
This was special?
Speaker 2 (30:42):
Just did just this just happened?
Speaker 4 (30:44):
Wow?
Speaker 5 (30:45):
And it was then, you know, a day we were
just like let's start, let's start this band let's let's
do this. And we just started writing like constantly, and
when do you start performing? We started playing shows shortly
after that. You know, it was like backyards, graduation parties,
like wherever we could play. We were not going to
(31:06):
play in.
Speaker 3 (31:06):
The church, right, that's the one place you were like,
we're not going to do there. Yeah, we're your friends
all supportive.
Speaker 5 (31:11):
Friends were Yes, friends were supportive. I mean we begged
them to come out to any show we had. You know,
that's what you like when you're a new band or
a new rs you.
Speaker 2 (31:20):
Need your friends.
Speaker 5 (31:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (31:22):
What was your marketing? Like, how were you getting like
a graduation? How would you get to play that graduation?
Speaker 2 (31:28):
Okay?
Speaker 5 (31:28):
Marketing was print to flyer, you know with your band name, yep,
Like photograph like go to go to Kinko's, put together
a little flyer thing with your with your bands, your photo, make.
Speaker 2 (31:42):
It all cool, viby emao, and just pass those around.
Speaker 4 (31:47):
Everywhere, just everywhere.
Speaker 2 (31:49):
You can put them up on you know, on the
on the pole, yeah, put.
Speaker 5 (31:53):
Them on the park bench, leave them at shows, go
to a show, leave them on the merch desk at
another band's show.
Speaker 4 (32:00):
And whose phone number was on there? Was it directly
to one of mine? They call you for sure.
Speaker 5 (32:04):
Yeah, even on our early like EPs. So we'd burn,
you know, we'd record two songs or whatever, three songs.
We'd have these we'd make. We'd make a thousand copies
and burn these CDs. Put our little slip you know,
cover in, put you know, put our number on there.
Pass those out, just like, you know, pass them out.
Try to sell them, you know if you could. But
(32:26):
just like pass them out. And then you'd get a call,
you know, maybe like one person call be like, hey,
I got a you know, backyard party. If you want
to come, I'll put you up fifty bucks.
Speaker 2 (32:34):
You yeah, we're done, we're in. Okay, we'll bring fifty
people if you want.
Speaker 5 (32:40):
Yeah. Yeah, So far and then and then it became
a little more like strategic, like all right, I'm gonna
call every venue right when I look at like who's
coming into town, and if they don't have an opener listed, like,
I will say, I'll call them and I'll call the promoter.
And I was hounding every venue in Denver just like, hey,
(33:00):
on the nineteenth, you have such and such coming in?
Speaker 2 (33:03):
Is there an opener? So smart, we'll open we'll do it.
We'll do it. I promise we'll bring fifty.
Speaker 4 (33:09):
People'll bring fifty people, will be great.
Speaker 2 (33:11):
And sure enough that that worked, you know, like here
and there.
Speaker 3 (33:16):
It worked so smart, so smart to be like, I'm
going to shoot my shot, because what's the worst thing?
Speaker 4 (33:20):
They say no?
Speaker 2 (33:21):
Right exactly? Yeah, okay.
Speaker 3 (33:23):
So I already wasn't going to do it until unless
you asked, So like I'm going to ask and then
if you say.
Speaker 4 (33:28):
Yes, now we've got a gig.
Speaker 5 (33:30):
So exactly. So we just kept writing songs. And by
the way, you know, it's easier. It was easier in
Denver to be a cover band, to play the bars
and play the songs that people want to hear.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
The hard part was.
Speaker 5 (33:40):
Playing your songs right, because like right, you know, listen,
we weren't good and you know what you said, it
was fire?
Speaker 2 (33:47):
Well to us it was okay, okay, no one could
see it.
Speaker 4 (33:51):
Yeah, it was fire was bubbling.
Speaker 2 (33:53):
Knew. I saw it in his eyes. He's out of
my eyes.
Speaker 3 (33:56):
So I was doing the math and I feel like
the fray must have been pretty dent on MySpace in
the early days.
Speaker 4 (34:03):
So who was in your top eight?
Speaker 2 (34:08):
Oh? I wanted can I can I hear your top aid,
I'm curious.
Speaker 4 (34:11):
Yeah, good question.
Speaker 3 (34:13):
Who was my top eight? My best friend Jamie, we're
still best friends. There were definitely some guys whose names
I have forgotten.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
Yeah, we don't want to mention them. Yeah, yeah, same,
I mean there were some.
Speaker 5 (34:27):
There was some girlfriends and girlfriends. Yeah, and there was
my first kiss. I like just kept trying and couldn't
bring Britney Baxter. Britney Baxter, and she was just she
lived down the street, two blocks down in the greenhouse.
Speaker 4 (34:43):
Was she so cool?
Speaker 2 (34:44):
She was so cool? And I just tried for years,
for years, Brittany and to see me now this is
so do you know what she's doing? I don't. I
have no idea.
Speaker 4 (34:55):
When was the last time you looked her up? A
long time ago?
Speaker 2 (34:59):
Yeah it was a while back, okay, yeah, but.
Speaker 4 (35:01):
She married, she she was yeah, yep.
Speaker 2 (35:05):
So I was like, okays, he's good. Yeah, yeah, she's happy.
I'm good. Okay, but that you know, everyone remembers that
first first kiss.
Speaker 3 (35:13):
She was she was in the top eight, okay, top eight,
if you were to go back to it, probably still
in the top eight. So while I was researching for
this interview, I was surprised how many times the Fray
was referred to as pop punk.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
Interesting.
Speaker 4 (35:27):
Yes, I guess I just don't typically.
Speaker 3 (35:30):
Think of you as being grouped in with like the
Warp Tour regulars of Fallout Boy or Panic at the Disco.
Speaker 4 (35:36):
Do you think of yourself as being pop punk whatever?
Speaker 5 (35:40):
Honestly, who cares the label exactly? Like however you want
to pigeon us? If anything, I feel like we always
just never belonged in a in a category because it's like,
even even in the pop category at the time when
when it was starting to work for us, you know,
it's not like lyrics like bitterness are pop lyrics in
(36:03):
a chorus, and and we didn't sound like what was
happening on pop radio. And we're from Denver and we're
isolated there, and so we were It always felt like
we didn't know where the industry didn't know where to
put us. We were lucky to like yesterday, a couple
(36:24):
of days ago, we played in the Grammy Museum, and
you know, honor to say that we lost four Grammys already,
hope we.
Speaker 4 (36:31):
Lose more, continue to keep losing those Grammys.
Speaker 5 (36:34):
But like even the categories, they didn't know how to
put our song? Is this in the pop group performance?
Speaker 2 (36:40):
Is this rock? We were in rock categories, we're in
the pop category, so you know, we're just going to
do our thing.
Speaker 4 (36:48):
I feel like that's such a compliment to really be so.
Speaker 3 (36:53):
Special and unique and of such a quality sound that
it's hard to find a thing that we can easily
how to gris you ask, like, I look, I think
that's just that's such a compliment to you. Do you
(37:16):
remember where you were when you found out that Grey's
Anatomy was going to use your song?
Speaker 2 (37:23):
I do, well.
Speaker 5 (37:24):
First it was it was like as simple as an email, like,
you know, a request for the license okay to use
the song. How to Save Life was not a single
at that time, our first single that actually changed.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
Our life, and it was over my head. Yeah, because
that one in Denver just blew up.
Speaker 5 (37:47):
Like I was like calling the radio stations like every
every time we had a new song, I would send
them songs.
Speaker 4 (37:56):
Yeah and beg them to play please plase.
Speaker 5 (37:59):
Yes, and we we got said we you know, they
turned down probably nine songs and then it was just
another song that we had and I sent it to
the program director of all the stations, all multiple and
then they were like, you know, we're gonna play this
on Sunday night.
Speaker 2 (38:14):
We got a locals are you know we'll play it.
Speaker 5 (38:16):
We were so excited, like we we knew it was
between like six pm and eight pm. So we all
met up at I think my parents' house and the
stereo was broken and we had to climb in the minivan.
Speaker 4 (38:34):
Yes, listen in the minivan.
Speaker 5 (38:35):
And turn on the and just turn on the radio.
And we were all just waiting for that moment. And
when it came on, oh wow, we just sat there
like giddy. And it ended and that minivan door came
open and we jumped out of the grass and we're
just starting to dance and we're like, oh, we just
heard our song on the radio. Didn't know what was
(38:57):
going to happen, you know, from that course, and literally
the next morning they called the station called me and
they were like, hey, like, we got a lot of
calls on this song, and so we're gonna put this
into rotation and uh And I remember him saying buckle up.
Speaker 2 (39:17):
And I was like, okay, you mean in the minivan
I was last night? I was it was safe.
Speaker 5 (39:22):
There's air bags in there. So within four days, every
label was calling my phone because remember I put him
on the CD.
Speaker 4 (39:33):
And everyone had your number, and I was like trying
to I was.
Speaker 2 (39:35):
Trying to be like manager guy. I was like, this
is a joke in the fray. Yeah, who are you going,
Leo from? What Sony? What are you gonna do for us?
Speaker 5 (39:47):
Leo?
Speaker 2 (39:47):
I'm gonna take it to dinner tonight. You're gonna flast
to New York?
Speaker 4 (39:52):
What would stereos broken at home? I could use the hystereio.
Speaker 2 (39:55):
He got a Sony radio for him.
Speaker 5 (39:58):
So it became this frenzy of labels just reached out
and it was an exciting time but also very scary
because you don't know who to trust, right And so
actually Ryan Tedder from One Republic was just a good
friend at that point and I was and he no
one knew about One Republic either, and so him and
I were like bouncing people off each other, like, Hey,
(40:20):
do you know this guy from Epic or do you
know this guy from Columbia?
Speaker 4 (40:23):
And yeah, are these people decent?
Speaker 2 (40:25):
For sure?
Speaker 5 (40:25):
Because you know we know, like you hear about it,
Yeah that it's a shady biz. Absolutely, And the artist
gets screwed. Yeah, And I did not want to be
that story right where we were just signing something we
didn't know and or somebody was taking advantage of us.
Speaker 3 (40:43):
You were savvy to even know that, because you know
a lot of people did not know and are willing
to take Sparrow JPMS.
Speaker 5 (40:51):
It was the second grade newspaper out yea in the morning.
I'm like, some day I'm not going to get screwed.
Speaker 3 (40:57):
Right, I know, I'm onto you. How long did it
take then for your life to just completely change? After
the episode aired?
Speaker 2 (41:05):
Right? So, after How to Save a Life aired, my
grandmother called me and she was like, Joey, I heard
your song on Gray's and had me and she was
so excited and so proud. And that was the first call. Yeah,
and she was like thrilled because she loved the show.
I'm a betty yeah. And so I was like, oh,
(41:26):
you does that what's on your It's on your radar? Yeah?
Speaker 5 (41:31):
And it was, you know, I think because the band
was already we had a fan base, and we were
already touring.
Speaker 2 (41:40):
You know, from over my head what was happening.
Speaker 5 (41:44):
The timing couldn't have been better, because I do think
looking back, I've how to Save a Life was the
first thing that happened for us through Grays. We may
have been just super pigeoned into you know that.
Speaker 4 (41:58):
I only thankfully had over my head right far.
Speaker 2 (42:00):
Yeah, so that there was there was already, you know,
like we were a band before that, right, and it.
Speaker 4 (42:06):
Was happening and so like Big Street cred already in
a way.
Speaker 5 (42:11):
I don't know, but like at least our fans knew, yeah,
you know exactly. I don't know if like like the
core fans knew obviously, those that found us through how
To through grades, you know, did so. And that's great, right,
you know you're not gonna I mean you got to
you know, get you get your music hurt somehow totally.
And at that time too, there was there was I remember,
(42:32):
like wrestling with the idea of licensing the song or
any song to TV or commercials because there was like
a there was there was a time where artists were
like there was a it was a sellout.
Speaker 4 (42:44):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 3 (42:44):
By the way, now you are applauded for selling out
in twenty twenty six, everyone's like get that bag, honey.
Speaker 2 (42:50):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 3 (42:51):
Back in the day, you even did anything that could
be thought of as selling out and people were ready
to attack you.
Speaker 5 (42:57):
Oh, and there was so it was a there was
a big fear around this because artists were like, I
don't know, press or something. We're hard on it if
you license your song. And I remember before that Grays
thing the man called Wilco that I love. They got
a bunch of flak for a license that they did,
(43:19):
and it was like everybody, it was so much blowback,
and they issued a statement they were like, we we
are sorry that we made money.
Speaker 3 (43:28):
I apologize that the thing I love to do and
I'm very good at has been profitable for me.
Speaker 5 (43:34):
Which is funny because then five years later they reverse
course and you know, and that's what you do because
it's like, come on, I mean, we're artists.
Speaker 2 (43:41):
We gotta like we gotta eat you.
Speaker 5 (43:43):
Of course, so I remember wrestling with it and then
we just was like all right, let's just do it
and just say yes to this, and and then it
became like it's just like then there was like scrubs
and so many different like sinks, and I was like
(44:03):
HBO and like just blown away with like how our
music was being used, you know, and it didn't take
anything away from like the integrity of the band exactly,
you know, because we didn't write the songs for for
those shows. We wrote them because they were true, you know,
and they were they came from like we were talking about,
they came from questions.
Speaker 2 (44:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (44:26):
In fact, it's funny because my publisher I remember signing,
you know, my first publishing deal, and it was before
any of the Sinks came through.
Speaker 2 (44:35):
We sat down to have the meeting when they heard
the record and they.
Speaker 5 (44:38):
Told they told me they were like, we don't think
there's anything on here that's licensable.
Speaker 2 (44:43):
It's just not a sink record. There's no sinks, you know,
sink songs. And I was like, okay, well, why did
you Why do we meet today? Right? So you never know?
Speaker 4 (44:56):
Yeah, yeah, I trust me. We have some emails.
Speaker 3 (45:00):
Let's say I don't think Podmeats World is a podcast exactly.
Speaker 4 (45:03):
Okay, cool?
Speaker 2 (45:04):
Thanks.
Speaker 3 (45:05):
I found a very fun jingle ball from two thousand
and nine and I wanted you to hear this lineup.
Jordan Sparks, Jayshawn Cobra, Starship Hit Bull owl City, Justin Bieber.
Speaker 2 (45:16):
Yes, and the Fray Oh yes.
Speaker 3 (45:18):
If Spotify shuffled in that order, I might think I
was hacked first time.
Speaker 2 (45:24):
Yeah, oh my goodness.
Speaker 5 (45:27):
First off, justin Bieber, that was the first time we met,
really and actually the last time time I've seen.
Speaker 2 (45:33):
Yeah, I haven't.
Speaker 5 (45:34):
I haven't seen him, so we just haven't crossed paths,
although like friends will send me like help posts our song,
you know, and our songs in general and vibing with
the music. Yeah, And but I remember I didn't know
him before that show because it was like right when
he was it was happening. But I remember we played
(45:58):
and then I was backstage in the frequency of screams.
Speaker 2 (46:07):
Was piercing through the wall, right and I was like,
on the other side of a wall, what is going
on in this arena right now?
Speaker 5 (46:17):
And so I went in there and it was like
a pitch that I had to like plug my ears.
Yeah yeah, And then I saw him up on stage.
I was like, damn this, I'm just I'm seeing a
legend right here, you know. And uh yeah, I mean
I hope to collaborate with him at some point.
Speaker 4 (46:37):
That would be incredible something.
Speaker 2 (46:40):
If not, I'm always gonna be a fan.
Speaker 3 (46:42):
Oh yeah, I would love to. I would love to
see that. I really would. That sounds like a good
crossover for me.
Speaker 4 (46:47):
Do you like doing radio shows.
Speaker 2 (46:50):
You know, for the reason.
Speaker 5 (46:53):
Of coming across an artist that you never would have
not otherwise be a like been in the same circle.
It's a bit of a like, okay, dance, you know,
dance for now three seconds or you know, But I
don't know, like I appreciate them. They're like they're they're
banger you know, banger shows.
Speaker 2 (47:15):
You just play the hits and that's what it's about.
Speaker 4 (47:17):
Get out.
Speaker 5 (47:20):
So you know, we I'd be I'd be down. We
actually did one maybe a year ago Teddy swims yes,
and again to my point, like I hadn't you know,
met Teddy. Yeah, And we were playing the same show
and backstage we're just like hanging a vibe.
Speaker 2 (47:36):
In and saw his show.
Speaker 5 (47:39):
I just love him as a person, and we just
got to like, you know, got to chat that night
hang And then the next night we played a second
radio show and I was like, dude, you want to
like you want to come out and sing, like let's
He's like, yeah, let's do let's go. Yeah, And so
then it became a collaboration. Yeah, you know, and now
we're friends and.
Speaker 4 (47:59):
So in that sense, yes, it introduces you like it.
Speaker 5 (48:03):
Art inspires art, Creative inspires creative, so like, yeah, I'm
a fan.
Speaker 3 (48:09):
You celebrated twenty years of How to Save a Life
last year with a world tour you played across in
North America and Europe, all leading to the new album
that just dropped. How does revisiting old music in such
a big way affect when you're writing new music.
Speaker 5 (48:27):
It's a good question. I I don't think it's in
my my orbit when I'm writing new music. I I
just have to write what's true, and that's all I
have control of. Like I don't want to try to
replicate or try to worry. I don't worry about is
this what are they going to think?
Speaker 2 (48:46):
This is pray?
Speaker 5 (48:48):
Or are they you know, going to connect to this
because that was just that just I've been there before
and that crushes me. It just kills my creative or
it just feels forced and it's like fake or something.
So I just have to just surrender to what's true,
you know, And is this something I love? Is this
(49:10):
something we love as a band, And really, at the
end of the day, that's that's all we did at
the beginning, and that's all we're doing now is just
like release what's true, what we love enough to share
with the world, and proud and proud that we're still
doing this as a band and not only still but better. Yeah,
And and like the shows are so fun, Like I
(49:34):
love playing the body of work, you know, because there's
more stars in the sky yep, you know, and they're
all they're all there. You are a little spot in
the sky whatever it is, like we get to we
get to share those night after night, and you can
feel the story in the room.
Speaker 3 (49:51):
And when you've had a career for as long as
you have, that longevity gives you hindsight and now you
can look back as you're playing songs from twenty years
ago and you know how it all turns out. I mean,
there's still a lot of future, so you don't know
how it all turns out. But there's a different feeling
when you have some space from some of your earlier
art and are able to appreciate it in a new way.
(50:14):
And now you are going to be out on the
road with Dashboard Confessional for the Summer of Light tour.
What is the biggest difference between Joking touring twenty years
ago and jo King touring.
Speaker 5 (50:27):
Now, well, that's a good question. I'm certainly not worried
about the same things. Okay, okay, so less worried about.
Speaker 2 (50:39):
You know, yeah what people think. Maybe I'm more worried about.
Speaker 5 (50:45):
Oh, I shouldn't drink that, right, I shouldn't eat that
before the show, right, and then after the show I
should probably rest.
Speaker 3 (50:54):
Yes, exactly, I'm going to actually go to sleep, right,
I'm going to drink by electrolyte water.
Speaker 5 (50:59):
I know it's it's geeky, you know, but I'm just like,
if I want to have a longevity here, and I
want to do this into my like seventies, pray to God,
we can, like I want to.
Speaker 2 (51:11):
Sing these songs all the rest of my life, totally,
you know. And so and I want to do it.
Speaker 5 (51:15):
Well, you know, I mean fans that come to these shows.
I mean they spend their money, they spend their time,
they spend it's hard to go to shows, like you
gotta wait in lines, you gotta park, you got all
this stuff, all these variables, these and they I want
to give them the best. Yes, I want to give
them our best. And so that just means making decisions differently, yeah,
which means that you do not have them as much fun.
Speaker 3 (51:37):
Listen, you're preaching to the choir. I've been saying to
people for a long time.
Speaker 4 (51:42):
I'm sorry.
Speaker 3 (51:42):
I'm just not that fun anymore. I have fun in
a different way now. Eight thirty pm in bed is
so exciting.
Speaker 5 (51:49):
I love it, like with dashboard, like Chris like, I'm
going to reach out to him soon, just so we
can hang before the tour.
Speaker 4 (51:56):
Yes, because we're not going to have time if we
try to hang on the Yeah, it's.
Speaker 2 (52:01):
We're gonna be midway through. We'll be like, hey, oh
next week is it?
Speaker 1 (52:06):
Like?
Speaker 2 (52:06):
Is there?
Speaker 4 (52:07):
And then for the next one. But did I think
things slow down?
Speaker 2 (52:09):
Guess what?
Speaker 4 (52:10):
They never slow down.
Speaker 2 (52:11):
I don't know. So I want to like hang with
him before the tour start. Just vibe. Have an early
dinner for sure, early dinner.
Speaker 5 (52:18):
Yeah, we can have our fun pre tour. Pre tour,
we're gonna go hard, Chris and I are gonna go hard, hard, cold.
Speaker 3 (52:25):
Give yourself two weeks to recover before the startup. I'm
not done with Joe King of the Fray quite yet.
This Friday, we will have a bonus episode with Joe
on the dedicated teen Beat podcast Feed so just search
for us in your favorite streaming service and subscribe. That way,
you will never miss another episode. We're even gonna listen
to a voice memo from one of you that was
(52:47):
willing to share the story from childhood that still keeps
you up at night.
Speaker 4 (52:51):
And if you're down to clown, we want to hear
from you.
Speaker 3 (52:54):
Just send a voice note of your tale to Teenbeatpod
at gmail dot com and we just play it and
make sure to check out the phrase new album A
Light that Waits and see them on the Summer of
Light tour date and more information is that The Fred
is an iHeart podcast produced and hosted by Danielle Fischel.
Executive producers Jensen Karp and Amy Sugarman, Executive in charge
(53:16):
of production Danielle Romo, producer and editor Tara Subach.
Speaker 4 (53:20):
The theme song is by mar Coppus. Yes that Mark Coppus.
Follow us on Instagram at teen Beatpod.
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